Herndon J. Evans Collection
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Herndon J. Evans Collection
- Date
- 1929-1982
- Creator
- Evans, Herndon J., 1895-1976
- Extent
- 3.5 Cubic feet
- Subjects
- Coal miners--Kentucky
- Coal mines and mining--Economic conditions.
- Communism--Kentucky.
- Editors--Kentucky.
- Pamphlets.
- Strikes and lockouts--Coal mining--Kentucky.
- Preferred Citation
- [Identification of item], Herndon J. Evans Collection, 1929-1982, 82M1, Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Herndon J. Evans (1895-1976), a resident of Bell County, Kentucky, was editor of the Pineville Sun and local correspondent for the Associated Press (AP) in the early 1930s, a period of labor unrest in the Kentucky coalfields, especially in Harlan and Bell Counties.
- Evans closely followed events in the Pineville area, paying attention to the strikes and attempts by the United Mine Workers of America and the Communist Party's National Miners Union to organize the miners. He was particularly concerned with two delegations composed mainly of writers, including Sherwood Anderson, John Dos Passos, Theodore Dreiser, Waldo Frank and Mary Heaton Vorse, who travelled to eastern Kentucky to investigate the conditions of miners and their families and who eventually published their findings in Harlan Miners Speak: Report on Terrorism in the Kentucky Coal Fields (Harcourt, Brace, 1932). Evans was also keenly interested in the various groups of college students who came to support the miners. Opposed to the activities of these delegations, Evans worked to undermine their presence and credibility by using his journalistic skills to write editorials for the Pineville Sun and articles for the AP.
- Scope and Content
- The collection contains handbills, leaflets, pamphlets and newspaper clippings collected by Evans primarily from 1931-1933. Also included are handwritten notes, correspondence, and drafts of articles and editorials written by Evans as well as memorabilia such as Communist Party membership books and organizational charts.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
- Copyright has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky.
Contents of the Collection
Biographical Materials
Correspondence
Scope and Contents note
Correspondence to Herndon Evans from supporters and those who disagree with his ideology and position on the labor strife in Harlan and Bell Counties. Also includes carbon copies of correspondence from Herndon Evans.
Handbills and Leaflets about the Strike
Publications
Scope and Contents note
Publications about the strike and related topics such as ideological positions on communism
Books and Pamphlets about the Strikes
Periodical Articles
Scope and Contents note
These articles are primarily related to the strikes in Bell and Harlan Counties. However, a few articles are about communism in general.
"Red Blood in Kentucky," Charles Walker, Forum and Century, January 1932.
"Starvation and the Reds in Kentucky," Oakley Johnson, The Nation, February 3, 1932.
"Kentucky Newspaperman Denies Distorting Story on Writers," Editor and Publisher, February 27, 1932.
"Kentucky Man is Off AP String List," Editor and Publisher, March 5, 1932.
"Kentucky Coal Town," Malcolm Cowley, The New Republic, March 2, 1932.
"Theodore Dreiser," Edmund Wilson, The New Republic, March 30, 1932.
"Who Knows What's Happening in Kentucky?" The Christian Century, A Journal of Religion, March 1932.
The Epworth Highroad, March 1932
"Kentucky Hits Communism : The Truth about the Coal Mine Situation in South Eastern Kentucky and the Dreiser-Frank "Ballyhoo," Herndon Evans, Kentucky Progress Magazine, April 1932.
"Kentucky Editors Look at Kentucky: A Series of Letters on Harlan and Bell Counties," The Nation, May 18, 1932.
"Communist Forcing Showdown? : Why Reds Stir World Wide Violence," US News and World Report, May 23, 1958.
Clippings about the Strikes
Scope and Contents note
Clippings from newspapers around the country about the strikes in Bell and Harlan Counties
March-December, 1931
January-February, 1932
March 1932
April 1932 and May 1932
Herndon Evans' Scrapbook
Scope and Contents note
Photocopied version for patron use. Original is in fragile condition and is located in Box 6.
Memorabilia
Memorabilia
- Box 5, Folder 4
Scope and Contents note
Includes Communist Party membership booklets, Pineville "transportation cards," membership cards for the "Society for the Protection of Defenseless Children," and patriotic memorabilia.
Also, located in Box 7, are blueprints: Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Cumberland Valley Division chart of total monthly [coal] loadings, January 1927 to date [February 12 1932]; Bolshevist Organization in the United States of America, At Present Time, 1931 [organizational chart].
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Related Materials
Scope and Contents note
Materials not pertaining to the strike.
Anti-communist materials
Communist Party booklets and pamphlets
Oversize Materials
Blueprints: Louisville & Nashville Railroad, Cumberland Valley Division chart of total monthly [coal] loadings, January 1927 to date [February 12 1932]; Bolshevist Organization in the United States of America, At Present Time, 1931 [organizational chart].
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Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Table of Contents
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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Requests
No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
